ChatGPT Memory Summary: How to Check, Correct, and Actually Delete What ChatGPT Remembers

Disclosure: this post was drafted and edited with AI tools (#ABotWroteThis). I ran the checks on November 5, 2026, between about 12:17 and 1:04 PM Japan time, on a ChatGPT Free account in a web browser (chatgpt.com). I used one made-up test project codename only (BLUE-HERON-1104, then GREY-HERON-1104). I didn't open Scheduled or Tasks, didn't change any memory setting, and didn't touch any memory that wasn't the HERON test item. No model name was shown. It's one small test on one account, so it shows what I saw once. OpenAI's help page can change. Nothing here is sponsored.

The ChatGPT memory summary shows a high-level view of what ChatGPT may use to personalize answers. But hiding something, deleting a chat, and deleting a memory are three different things, and only one of them removes a saved memory. Here is what OpenAI's help page says, as I read it on November 5, 2026, plus what a Free account showed when I saved, corrected, and deleted a made-up memory — and what still came back after that delete.

Where to find it

OpenAI's Memory in ChatGPT page says: “Open Settings. Select Personalization. Select Memory.” It adds that controls “may include Memory, Reference saved memories, Reference chat history, Memory summary, Manage, or Saved memories,” and that “Memory features and controls can vary by plan, region, platform, and workspace settings.”

On my Free account (Settings > Account > Plan showed Free), Settings > Personalization opened a “ChatGPT memory” section with the switch “Enable ChatGPT memory” already ON, a Memory summary row (“View an overview of what ChatGPT has learned about you…”) with a Manage button, and a link into the older saved memories list. I did not see toggles labelled “Reference saved memories” or “Reference chat history” under those exact names. Under Additional ChatGPT settings I did see Reference record history set to ON. Clicking Manage opened a “Memory summary” dialog (it showed “Updated just now” and sections including “Dive Deeper”). Clicking “saved memories” opened a legacy “Saved memories” dialog with “Search memories” and a “Revert to this experience” button I did not click. At the start of the test that dialog said “No saved memories.”

Memory summary, saved memories, chat history

Correct, hide, or delete?

Full removal checklist

The page says: “To remove information saved as a memory, delete the saved memory and the chat where you first shared it.” Then check every place it lists:

• [ ] the memory summary
• [ ] saved memories
• [ ] regular and archived chats
• [ ] saved files in Library or Space
• [ ] connected apps

On timing, the page says only this: “It can take time for deletion and Memory updates to propagate. OpenAI may retain logs of deleted saved memories for up to 30 days for safety and debugging purposes.” And for chat history: if you turn Reference chat history off, “information remembered from past chats is scheduled for deletion from OpenAI systems within 30 days.”

On my Free account, deleting the saved memory alone was not enough to stop a new chat from answering with the codename (details in the test section below). That matches the help page's order: delete the saved memory and the chats that mention it. I observed that once; it is not a guarantee for every account.

For one-off sensitive work: Temporary Chat

“Temporary chats do not create or update memories, even with personalization on.” Before you start one, you can choose Unpersonalized so it doesn't use existing memories or custom instructions; “You cannot change this choice after the conversation starts.” If you save a temporary chat, it “converts it to a regular chat.”

Before you share a chat or a task with a teammate, open your memory summary and look for anything about other people: a client's name, a coworker's situation. For work about someone else, use a temporary, unpersonalized chat. One more line from the page: “Memory Sources are not included when you share a conversation through a shared link.”

"Memory full" and "summary not generating"

The help page says there is no separate storage limit for chat history. It doesn't give a number for saved memories, and it doesn't explain why a summary might not appear beyond “If a setting described here is not visible, it may not be available for your account yet.” I won't guess past that. My Free account didn't show a “memory full” or capacity message during this test.

What I saw on a Free account

I used one made-up fact only: a “test project codename” (BLUE-HERON-1104, then GREY-HERON-1104).

1. In a Temporary Chat

I started a Temporary Chat and left the default personalization. The header offered Personalized (“This chat can reference memory, plugins, and custom instructions”) and Unpersonalized (“This chat will ignore memory, plugins, and custom instructions”). The intro said the chat won't appear in history, and that for safety a copy may be kept for up to 30 days. I sent:

Please remember this for later: my test project codename is BLUE-HERON-1104 (fictional, for a test).

The reply, word for word:

Got it! The test project codename is BLUE-HERON-1104 (fictional, for testing).

I'll keep that context in mind when it comes up later.

No “Memory updated” or “Saved memory” notice appeared. A “Save chat” tooltip did; I didn't click it. I closed the temporary chat without saving. After that, Memory summary (Manage) had no “HERON” text, and the legacy Saved memories dialog still said “No saved memories.” So Temporary Chat matched the help page on this account: it did not create a saved memory.

2. Saving it in a regular chat

In a new regular chat titled “Remember Codename”, I sent the same prompt. ChatGPT showed a Memory updated notice above the reply. The reply, word for word:

Saved for future reference: BLUE-HERON-1104.

It's your fictional test project codename. I'll use it when relevant in later conversations.

In the legacy Saved memories dialog, the only item was:

Test project codename is BLUE-HERON-1104. It is fictional and for a test. Use this context when relevant in later conversations.

Its per-item “More options for memory” menu showed Delete and “Saved on November 5 from a chat.” The Memory summary dialog was still “Generating” at that moment, so no HERON sentence appeared in the summary yet. The legacy dialog also showed a banner that this is a legacy version of memory; I did not click “Revert to this experience.”

3. Correcting it

In a new chat titled “Update project codename”, I sent:

Correction: my test project codename is now GREY-HERON-1104, not BLUE-HERON-1104. Please update what you remember.

A Memory updated notice appeared again. The reply, word for word:

Updated! The current test project codename is GREY-HERON-1104.

The previous codename, BLUE-HERON-1104, is superseded. I'll use GREY-HERON-1104 going forward.

In Saved memories, BLUE was replaced in place. The only item was now:

Test project codename is GREY-HERON-1104. It is fictional and for a test. Use this context when relevant in later conversations.

No separate BLUE-HERON line remained. I didn't see a correction field or highlight-to-correct control in the Saved memories dialog (only the per-item Delete menu).

4. Asking what it remembers

In a new chat titled “Project Codename Recall”, I asked what it remembered about the test project codename, in one line. The reply, word for word:

GREY-HERON-1104 (fictional test project codename; replaces BLUE-HERON-1104).

I didn't record a Sources line under that reply.

5. Deleting only the chat (not tested as planned)

The help page says deleting a chat alone “does not necessarily delete a separate saved memory created from that chat.” I planned to delete only the Run 2 chat (“Remember Codename”) and check the memory. When I came back for that step, that chat was already missing from the sidebar, and opening its URL showed “Could not load this ChatGPT.” I did not delete it in this session, and I don't know when or why it disappeared. The GREY-HERON saved memory was still present as the only item. So I did not verify the help-page claim by deleting a chat myself. What I can say is narrower: after that chat was already gone, the separate saved memory was still there.

6. Deleting the memory itself

In the legacy Saved memories dialog, I opened the per-item menu on the only HERON item and chose Delete. A confirmation asked Delete this memory? and said the item “will be deleted. ChatGPT may not remember this information going forward,” with Cancel / Delete. I clicked Delete. Re-opened Saved memories showed “No saved memories.” After Memory summary finished “Generating,” it had no “HERON” text either.

Then, in a new chat titled “Identify test codename”, I asked what my test project codename was, and to say “I don't know” in one line if it didn't know. The reply, word for word:

GREY-HERON-1104

So deleting the saved memory did not stop recall in that new chat. At that moment the Run 3 and Run 4 chats (“Update project codename” and “Project Codename Recall”) were still in the sidebar, and Reference record history was ON. The likely source is chat-history reference, not the deleted saved memory. That lines up with the help page: deleting a saved memory “does not remove mentions of that information from past conversations,” and Reference chat history can still use past chats. I then deleted the remaining test chats (“Identify test codename”, “Project Codename Recall”, “Update project codename”). After that, the sidebar showed no codename/heron chats.

Put together: Temporary Chat did not create a memory; a regular chat did, with a “Memory updated” notice; a correction replaced BLUE with GREY in place; and the per-item Delete path worked, with a “Delete this memory?” confirm. What surprised me was the last step. After the saved memory was gone, a new chat still answered GREY-HERON-1104 while older chats that mentioned it were still around. On this account, deleting a saved memory alone was not enough to stop recall while older chats that mentioned the fact were still around. I didn't re-test after deleting those chats, so I can't say that removing them is what fixes it. That is what I saw once on one Free account, not a guarantee. It is also why the help page's full-removal list puts the saved memory and the chat together.

Custom instructions are a different feature (the help page says so). If you want ChatGPT to always know something, see ChatGPT Custom Instructions: copy-paste templates. For one project only, see ChatGPT Project Instructions: 5 Examples You Can Paste.

A small Japanese touch

The courtesy I'd borrow is thinking of the other person before you share. If a chat involves someone else's details, keep it out of memory. It's a small courtesy to the people you write about.

Checklist

• [ ] Open Settings > Personalization > Memory and read the summary.
• [ ] Wrong? Correct it. Don't want it used? "Don't mention this again" hides, but doesn't delete.
• [ ] Want it gone? Delete the saved memory and the chats where you shared it, including archived chats. On my Free account, deleting the memory alone still left a new chat able to answer, likely from older chats.
• [ ] Check files and connected apps too.
• [ ] Sharing a chat or task? Check the summary for other people's details first.
• [ ] Sensitive one-off work? Temporary Chat, Unpersonalized.

Menus and options vary by plan and region and can change. This isn't legal or privacy advice.